Uncle charged after boy killed by handgun

DELAWARE TWP. -An 11-year old boy, looking at guns with his cousin and uncle, was shot and killed Saturday afternoon in Pike County. His uncle has been charged with criminal homicide. The family is devastated, police say.

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By Beth BreljePocono Record Writer

News Eagle - Hawley, PA

By Beth BreljePocono Record Writer

Posted May. 5, 2014 at 4:01 PM

By Beth BreljePocono Record Writer
Posted May. 5, 2014 at 4:01 PM

DELAWARE TWP. -An 11-year old boy, looking at guns with his cousin and uncle, was shot and killed Saturday afternoon in Pike County. His uncle has been charged with criminal homicide.

The family is devastated, police say.

The name of the child has not been released, but police say he lived in Wayne County and attended the Wallenpaupack Area School District. His initials are H.P, according to police records.

The uncle, Chad Olm, 34, was incarcerated in teh Pike County Correctional Facility in lieu of $250,000 bail, where he remains locked up. He was arraigned on Sunday morning.

Police notified the school of the death and the school will have grief counselors available this week.

State Police were called at 5:35 p.m. Saturday to Keystone Drive in Wild Acres, a gated community in Delaware Township.

The home is owned by William Olm, the victim's grandfather. The child was visiting the home where his uncle, Chad Olm, lives in a room in the basement next to the laundry room.

Chad Olm has a safe in his room with a keypad lock, where he stores four guns.

According to police records, this is what Chad Olm said happened:

Olm was in his bedroom with his son and his nephew, both age 11. The boys asked to see his guns, so he opened his security safe.

Olm told police that he does not leave his guns loaded.

He opened the case and showed them his .357 Magnum revolver, which had been wrapped in a sleeve.

He handed it to his nephew and then to his son. They thought it was cool because it had a big scope on it. They wanted to pull the trigger and he let them, the police report said.

Next, he took out a .22 revolver. He removed the pin and cylinder and then put it back together again and handed it to his nephew and then to his son.

Then Olm showed the boys a 9 mm pistol that had been stored in a case, and let each boy hold it.

Last, he took out a Glock 27 .40-caliber handgun that has a laser sight. Olm said there was no magazine in it, but he did not work the action to check or clear it.

He was holding the pistol and showing the boys the laser on the ceiling and the wall.

Then, Olm pointed the laser at his nephew.

Page 2 of 2 - One of the boys (Olm could not recollect which one, according to court papers) said: "Look, you have a red dot on your forehead."

His nephew reached out for the gun, and Olm pulled the trigger.

The gun went off.

The bullet struck the child in the forehead, above an eye. He began bleeding and fell over.

When police arrived, the child's body was found on the floor of the bedroom and there was a single bullet hole in the corner of the room, near the ceiling. The gun was on the clothes washer in the laundry room.

The victim's parents were not there at the time of the incident. They arrived after police.

State police Chaplain the Rev. Thomas Muldowney was called to speak with the family.

The victim has two siblings, one older and one younger.

"It's horribly tragic. The family is devastated," Blooming Grove State Police station commander Lt. Chris Paris said. "It goes to show that the safe handling of firearms is a must. The family has lost something that they can never replace."

The state police Troop R Major Case team was called to handle the case. The team is comprised of members of the Dunmore, Blooming Grove and Honesdale barracks.

"One of the troopers remarked that it makes you go home and hug your kids," Paris said.

Olm was charged with criminal homicide for pointing a loaded gun equipped with a laser site at a child. He is also charged with recklessly endangering another person because his son was a short distance away; and also charged with endangering the welfare of children.